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THANKSGIVING SERMON, 



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PREACHED BEFORE 



THE UNITED RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES 

OF 

FISHERVILLE, N. H., 

Nov. S6, 1863, 

Bt J. H. GILMORE, 

Pastor of the Baptist Church. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 



CONCORD: 

p. B. COGSWELL, PRINTER. 
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THANKSGIVING SERMON, 



PREACHED BEFORE 



THE UNITED RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES 

OF 

FISHERYILLE, N. H., 

Nov. S6, 1863, 

By J. H. (^ILMOEE, 

Pastor of the Baptist Church. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 



CONCORD : 

P. B. COGSWELL, PRINTEE, 
1864. 



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IN EXTRA Wai 

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DISCOURSE. 



"Hath God forgotten to be Gracious?" — Ps. 77: 9. 

The psalmist, in putting the question of my text, did not 
dream that any one would seriously answer it in the affirmative. 
In the very next verse he reproves himself for having even 
dared to hint that God had " in anger shut up his tender mer- 
cies." Whenever, in the centuries which have rolled away 
since this psalm was written, unblushing infidelity has ventured 
the assertion that our Father had " forgotten to be gracious," 
the prompt and emphatic denial of the church, the solemn and 
impressive silence of the world have borne witness to his mercy 
and love. In our own land especially the recognition of God's 
goodness has from time immemorial been spontaneous and 
hearty. But a change has come over the spirit of the Chris- 
tian world. It is no uncommon thing now, when the rulers of 
our State or Nation set apart a day for solemn thanksgiving 
to Almighty God, to hear his professed children even, more 
than insinuate that we have very little to be thankful for. So 
many utterances of this nature have grated upon my ears that I 
have thought I might render an acceptable service to these 
united congregations by suggesting some proofs that God has 
not " forgotten to be gracious " to our country during the past 
year. 

Before I enter on my theme, let me say that no man feels 
more keenly than I the bitterness and the gloom of this terrible 
struggle in which the nation is involved. It is a fearful thing 
to see brother arrayed against brother in deadly strife ; to 
think of the empty seats by the fire-side on this festive day ; to 



summon up the wasted forms of those who, in the hospital, or 
amid the horrors of a Southern prison, sigh for the cool, fresh 
breezes of their New England home. Oh ! yes, civil war is a 
great and terrible evil ; but there are greater evils than civil 
war. The thunder-storm which darkens the summer sky and 
hurls its forked terrors on our defenceless heads is a terrific 
scourge. But the thunder-storm is not so deadly as the steady, 
dry, oppressive heat which flees before it. It was a terrible 
scene when the demon which Christ cast out threw his poor 
victim foaming and screaming to the ground and tore him in 
his rage before he left him. But what should we think of him 
who v,'ould let the suiFerer live and die in the clutches of Satan 
rather than see him suffer thus severely ? And what of him 
who pities the poor demon, compelled to loose his hold on his 
victim, more than the man released from thraldom ? 

What heart can fail to be oppressed with sadness while the 
gloomy, gigantic shadow of Death, stealing onward to new 
scenes of carnage, falls athwart our fair land — while the mar- 
tial tramp of the tens of thousands who are marching down into 
the dark valley, sounds in our ears ? Yet, if we are the chil- 
dren of the Highest, groping through the darkness, we can touch 
God's hand and feel that all is well. It may be better with us 
as a people to-day — despite all our sacrifices and sufferings — 
than ever before in our national history. We know not into 
what newness of life God has purposed that we shall rise from 
our baptism of blood. 

" God works no otherwise. No mighty birth 
But comes by throes of mortal agony ; 
No man-child among nations of the earth 
But findeth baptism in a stormy sea." 

Unquestionably " clouds and darkness are round about him ;" 
but it is equally beyond all question that " righteousness and 
judgment are the habitation of his throne." And righteousness 
and judgment ever bring peace and joy in their train. If I 
can point you to-day to any evidence that God has not " forgot- 
ten to be gracious " to our country — that he has not " cast oflF 
forever ; " may we not hope that in his sovereign purposes He 



is more merciful than we in our weakness can understand ? 
We can see plainly enough that judgment is tempered with 
mercy in his dealings with this people. May it not be that, in 
the counsels of infinite wisdom, judgment is mercy and every 
trial but a blessing in disguise ? May we not soon discern in 
the dark spot which for a few hours dims the brightness of the 
sunshine and saddens our fair land by its baleful eclipse, the 
full-orbed moon riding clear and serene in the unclouded 
heavens ? 

Let us remember that in this world we must not hope for 
unmingled good. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and 
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." In heaven only is 
there perfect freedom from sorrow, because there only do we 
cease from sin. Yet even in the fiery furnace of our affliction 
how often can the eye of faith discern a form like that of the 
Son of Man. God, during the past year, has thrown the pail 
of death oftener than ever before over this little village. Again 
and again has He entered our households and taken from us 
those who were dearer than life itself. But how sweetly has 
the morning- star of consolation beamed forth from the night 
of gloom ! How blessed the thought that more have passed 
from death unto life among us during the twelve-month than 
they who have passed from life unto death. As we recall the 
wonderful displays of God's saving power ; as we think of the 
ransomed ones who have gone from us to keep their thanksgiv- 
ing in the presence of God ; dare we say — we who have been 
afiiicted even — that God has not blessed us in the year that is 
gone ? Shall the husbandman as he surveys his bursting barns, 
the laborer as he receives wages such as were never told out to 
him before, the tradesman as he wonders at a prosperity such 
as no other people has ever known in time of war — murmur at 
God's dealings with us ? Shall we complain because the clear, 
bright sunshine has been flecked with clouds ; because the 
sky has been overcast ; because the rain even has poured 
down upon us, with such proofs that back of drifting cloud and 
driving rain the sun still shines as glorious as ever ? 

But I already weary your patience. Let me, as I promised, 



point you to some indications that God has not " forgotten to 
be gracious " to our country during the year that is past. In 
this service I propose to use plain words and call things by 
their right names. 

I. I mention first the continued and hearty response 

WHICH THE PEOPLE OP THE NORTH HAVE MADE TO THE CLAIMS 

OF THEIR GOVERNMENT. When this great rebellion first broke 
out, when the Southern chivalry, a hundred to one, assailed the 
worn and starving garrison of Fort Sumter, we were amazed at 
the readiness with which the freemen of the North, forgetting 
their local prejudices and political preferences, sprang to arms 
to avenge the insult ofiered to the dear old flag. We felt that 
none but God could have thus fused the varying and discordant 
masses of the North into the molten lava of a fervent patriot- 
ism. The Uprising of the North will be cited by the historian 
of distant ages as a token of God's presence in our national 
history. And is God's presence less clearly seen in that won- 
derful unanimity with which the people of the free States, after 
three years of untold hardships, have shown at the ballot-box 
that they are still loyal ? Every inducement which man could 
devise to bend them from their purpose was tried. Hope de- 
ferred had made the heart sick. Almost every household in 
the land mourned some loved one lost in this great struggle. 
Twelve hundred thousand of the noblest of our sons had already 
been sent into the field. Twelve hundred milhons of dollars 
bad been expended. Fresh calls for men and means hung over 
the country. The war had assumed an aspect which no man at 
the outset dared to anticipate. And yet by majorities which 
must be counted by tens of thousands, the people of the North 
have buried the peace party in dishonorable graves — to await 
the second resurrection. For almost the first time in our na- 
tional history does the President of the United States find 
himself sustained by a popular majority during his entire term 
of office. I do not misinterpret the voice of the people. I do 
not think they thought much about party poUtics in the late 
elections. The simple question with them Avas : War or a dis- 



honorable peace. I do not understand them to say that the 
man who fills the presidential chair is perfect, that he is their 
first choice even for that high and sacred position. But they 
have said in tones of thunder which echoed from the wild At- 
lantic to the far Pacific that they will stand by him to the last 
man and the last dollar. In their simplicity they have not been 
able to discriminate between the Government and its constituted 
authorities. They have been willing to overlook grave blunders, 
serious faults that they might set the seal of their approval to 
sincere purpose and honest endeavor. God only could have 
wrought them to this matchless patriotism. 

An evidence still more striking of the popular devotion (and 
of His power who turneth even the king's heart " whithersoever 
he will") is found in the alacrity with which the North has 
responded to the pecuniary demands of its Government. When 
men's pockets are emptied into the national treasury, when 
patriotism gets into Wall street then you may be sure that the 
heart of the people beats sound and true. What have we seen 
during the past year ? Three hundred and thirty milhons of 
government bonds taken at par by our own people in six 
months. Search the pages of history in vain for a similar ex- 
ample of confident devotion. But, you say, this immense debt 
will bankrupt the nation. Is England bankrupt ? Her debt 
to-day is four times that of the Northern States, while her re- 
sources are vastly inferior to our own. A national debt, held 
not by foreign capitalists but by the people of a nation is not a 
curse but a blessing. It is a bond of indissoluble union. Louis 
Napoleon understood that when, in the first flush of his popu- 
larity, he called not on the bankers of Europe but on the people 
of France for the millions which he needed. Every man who 
responded to that call has given bonds for the security of the 
imperial throne. So long as the interest on his money is 
promptly paid and without excessive taxation, he will not venture 
his all in any rash, revolutionary scheme. So it is in our own 
case. You will not find men and women with " Five-twenties '» 
in their pockets plotting treason or voting for a man who 

" Left his country for his country's good." 



8 

God, in stirring up the hearts of rich and poor alike to pour 
their savings into the coffers of government has bound them 
by the strongest ties to stand by the country to the very last. 

But, you say, this immense debt will never be paid. I do not 
believe it. The day will come when every Government bond, 
every tattered green-back, every greasy bit of postal currency 
will command its full value in gold. Till then we have in our 
debt not only a new bond of union, but a new and safe and 
needed field for the investment of our earnings. And what if 
our currency should depreciate until like that of the Revolution 
it is utterly worthless ? The loss would be far less, considering 
our numbers and our resources, than that which our Fathers 
bore. They bore it cheerfully, though tories croaked then as 
traitors croak now. It was a part of the price which they paid 
for freedom. Shall we be less willing than they to make 
sacrifices and endure hardships for our country ? Our Country ! 
Ah, back of all forms and parchments and men rises her dear 
and sacred image to bo loved and guarded like the memory of 
the mother at whose knee we lisped our childish prayers. Shall 
we prostitute her to ignoble treason for paltry gold ? God 
forbid. 

II. Again, I can see evidences of Divine favor in the 

CONTINUED SUCCESS OF THE NATIONAL AKMS. Those who 

expected to over-run the South with 75,000 three months' men 
may be excused for still mourning the poor success of our 
armies. But, my friends, from the first hour of the rebellion to 
the present time the eagles of the Republic have steadily pressed 
onward towards the goal which now rises clear and distinct 
before us. We have met with reverses. We should have 
expected them. Taking us even by surprise, we have shown 
ourselves equal to the emergency. The doubt and despair 
which one year ago seemed to be settling upon us have given 
way to a steady determination which knows no defeat. The 
victorious banners of our loyal hosts press month by month 
closer to the scene of their final triumph. Within the twelve- 
month past the last rebel invasion has been met and its leader, 



9 

smarting beneath the loss of -vvell-mgh 50,000 men, driven back 
beneath the very walls of his starving capital. The Mississippi 
has been opened to commerce from its source to its mouth. 
The heart of the Southern Confederacy has been pierced at 
Chattanooga. Help has been borne to the oppressed loyaUsts 
of Tennessee. The banks of the Rio Grande have trembled 
beneath the tread of a loyal army. Before the very cradle of 
the rebellion we have met with such success as renders the fate 
of that doomed city (to borrow the language of " The 
Thunderer") only a question of time. The Neiv York 
Merald estimates the territory of the Southern Confederacy 
at the outbreak of this rebellion at 838,206 square miles. 
Six months ago three-fourths of its fair proportions had 
been shorn from it, leaving only 238,000 miles subject to 
rebel control ; and its losses in battle for a single year were 
estimated by the same authority — none too favorable to the 
loyal cause — at 100,000 men. The Richmond Enquirer 
asks in dismay : " What nation ever before in three years of 
war lowered its flag eleven times in surrender ? " And the 
same sheet waxing merry over its miseries tells us that in 
Richmond they -carry their money to market in a basket and 
bring their meat home in their pocket-books. I take the 
terrible sufferings of our soldiers in the Libby prison as an 
evidence of ^e straits to which our " paper blockade " has 
reduced the masses of the South. Nor do I pity the Southern 
people any more than I pity the lost soul who might have 
salvation for the asking. Is it not evident on which side the 
power of God is enlisted in this terrible struggle ? Shall we 
despair of success with such names as Gettysburg, Vicksburg 
and Port Hudson freshly inscribed upon our banners ? 

And as if this were not enough, as if God would honor our 
National festival with fresh tokens of his favor — even while I 
speak the lightnings of heaven are bearing us tidings of new 
and yet more glorious victories. The paper which I hold in 
my hand (this morning's Journal,^ brings the official intelli- 
gence that Lookout Mountain is ours with more than 6000 
rebel prisoners and 50 pieces of cannon and Bragg's army in 



10 

disorderly retreat before our victorious forces. " Unto thee, 
God, do we give thanks ; unto thee do we give thanks, for 
that thy name is near thy wonderous works declare." 

in. Let me point again as evidence of the divine favor to 

THE IMPROVED ASPECT OF OUR FOREIGN RELATIONS. A year 

ago war with England and France seemed inevitable. But the 
British Lion has learned now to " roar as gently as a sucking 
dove ; " and the Gallic Fox, much as he loves fat poultry, 
stands in deadly awe of the farmer's cudgel. And both British 
Lion and Gallic Fox look with some little distrust on the Russian 
Bear who proposes for once to hibernate in our hospitable ports. 
England and France at the outbreak of the rebellion underrated 
our National strength. They felt that they might safely 
interfere to crush this rising power which dared to dispute their 
supremacy among the nations. They expected the great 
Republic to topple to pieces in a night. Plence their horrible 
alacrity to recognize as belligerents those pirates who plunder 
and burn on the trackless ocean. What has changed their 
feelings toward us ? The fact that our iron-clad fleet surpasses 
in numbers and efficiency (I quote again from the London 
Times,') all similar squadrons of the world combined. The fact 
that we are to succeed in our endeavors to maintain the integrity 
of the Union, for the rulers of the old World fall down and 
worship Success. The fact that the momentous issues of this 
terrible conflict have come to be understood abroad. The hearts 
of the people are with us in our struggle ; and kings and 
emperors dare not resist the impulsive sympathy of the masses 
which surge around their thrones. We have taught the old 
world something in this year of grace 1863. The seizure of 
the Confederate rams, the prompt disclosure of the projected 
Canadian invasion bear evidence to that. We have saved 
ourselves, by one sharp, quick, energetic effort from years of 
foreign complication and strife. It will be a long day before 
Old Europe will seek occasion to lay hands on Young America. 

IV. And we ourselves have learned as well as taught others. 



11 

I count it as not the least of the blessings ■which flow from these 
terrible struggles that we have come to have A better 

UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHARACTER AND POWERS OP OUR 

GOVERNMENT. So mild had been the rule of the general 
government, so few the symbols of its power that we hardly 
knew we were a nation rather than a community of States. 
But a government which can levy taxes, enforce conscriptions, 
put down insurrections and carry to a successful issue civil 
war — has shown that it is a power and nob a mere name. And 
our government has not only shown its power but it has gained 
in power since the war began. The people of the West and 
the East, the North and the South have come to better 
understand each other's character. The people of the loyal 
States have learned that their interests are identical — that if 
" one member suffer, all the members suffer wath it." One 
year ago, when the Ninth Army Corps went into the depart- 
ment of the West they were greeted with the cry " We don't 
want you Yankees here. We can fight our own battles." But 
that feeling has passed away. It was knocked out of our 
Western brethren before Vicksburg and Port Hudson. 
On God's anvil and 

" By his great hammar, blow on blow," 

we are fast being welded into one people. The work ia not 
accomplished yet ; but in God's good time it will be. Yes, the 
day will come when loyahst and rebel will be mentioned only in 
history — when Northerner and Southerner shall be merged in 
the more glorious name of American — when one united people, 
faithful to each other because true to God, shall fill each smiling 
valley and cluster on the towering slopes of every hill from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific. 

God has done all this for other nations. England, 200 
years ago, was convulsed by civil war. -For three years 
the best blood of her children was poured out like water. 
The contest was brought home to every man's door — 
nay, into many a family. Such battle-fields as Naseby and 
Marston Moor — such scenes as the execution of King Charles 
attest the fierceness of the struggle. But to-day England is a 



12 

united and happy people. The names of Cavalier and Round- 
head are forgotten. The fierce thunder-storm has passed away 
and left the gentle hush of balmy summer. Thus may it be — 
thus will it be with our own loved land. 

V. Lastly, I can but see evidence that God has not " for- 
gotten to be gracious " to this people in the fact that he is 

FAST RIDDING OUR LAND OF THAT GIGANTIC EVIL WHICH HAS 
BEEN THE FRUITFUL CAUSE OF ALL OUR MISERIES. We did 

not contemplate this glorious result when the rebellion burst 
upon us. We thought only of a constitution trampled in the 
dust, a solemn union causelessly broken, a flag insulted, a 
nation of freemen wronged. But God " remembered those in 
bonds as bound with them." He has compelled us as a means 
for the maintenance of " The Union, the Constitution and the 
Enforcement of the Laws " to utter the righteous word which 
lets the oppressed go free. In his Providence, mailed treason 
has freed us from those constitutional obligations which forbade 
us to interfere with the peculiar institutions of the sovereign 
States. Disaster and defeat have compelled us to seize the 
golden opportunity and " proclaim liberty throughout the land 
to all the inhabitants thereof." God has cut loose the mill- 
stone which was weighing this nation down. We have no 
longer reason (1 borrow the words of Thomas Jefferson) to 
" tremble for our country when we remember that God is just." 
We have had evidence of the truth which that great statesman 
uttered that " God has no attribute which can take sides with 
the advocates of slavery in such a contest " as that in which we 
are now involved. 

My friends, Ave have always agreed in regard to the nature 
and influence of this terrible evil. The most heartless conser- 
vative has prayed that God " in his own time and his own 
way " would banish it from our midst. God has taken us at 
our word. At a time when we thought not, in a way that we 
little dreamed He has compelled us to " do unto others as we 
would have others do to us." He has given efficacy to the 
words which our rulers have spoken. The Emancipation 



13 

Proclamation is not, as many expected, a dead letter. There 
are one million freedmen in our land to-daj. They stand side 
by side with your own sons in our armies. You sit here in 
peace to-day because 200 negro soldiers garrison the forts at 
the mouth of the Piscataqua. These men have shown that they 
were worthy to be free. Recall that colored standard-bearer 
whose breast was torn open by a bursting shell in the deadly 
assault on Wagner. Passing the banner of his country — yes, 
thank God! his country — to his comrades he cried : "Take 
her, boys, she hain't touched the ground yet." That standard 
did not touch the ground. Is it not cause of thanksgiving that 
God has raised up men with black faces even to take the place 
of men with blacker hearts who cower and turn pale before the 
tidings of a- union victory ? Is there one Christian here who 
does not accjuiesce in the will of God towards our down-trodden 
brethren, who does not rejoice that the poor slave can clasp the 
Bible to his heart and give account of himself to the Almighty ? 
I hope not. 

In conclusion, let me urge upon you two practical duties. 
First, let us be swift to recognize God's hand in our national 
history. He is constraining us to do so. This war has raised 
up for us no great leaders. It has given us, as yet, no presi- 
dents. The Revolutionary War gave us Washington ; the War 
of 1812, Jackson ; our Indian troubles, Harrison ; the Mexican 
War, Taylor and Scott and Pierce. But what general to-day 
has even the ghost of a chance to fill the Presidential chair? 
God is taking all . the glory to himself. The Lord of Hosts is 
our leader and in his name do we set up our banners. ! how 
often has he interfered to save us when the arm of man grew 
faint. How many scenes are recorded in our national history 
like that when the little Monitor steamed into the mouth of the 
Potomac and went forth, like David against Goliah to do instant 
battle against the haughty monster which prostituted to ignoble 
treason the name of our noble river. Lest we should worship 
that vessel, she lies fathom-deep at the bottom of the sea. But 
Jehovah still lives. " The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is 



14 

his name." Shall we not cry aloud, in reverent submission to 
His will, " Not unto us, Lord, not unto us ; but to thy name 
give glory." 

Once more, and very briefly, let us be true to our Country in 
this hour of her peril. Let us be careful that we do not, by 
act or word or thought even, weaken the hands of those brave 
men who stand between us and the foe. Let us beware of 
yielding to despondency when reverses come upon us. Let us 
turn a deaf ear to the demon of captious criticism. Let us 
subordinate the claims of self and party to the more sacred 
demands of the Fatherland. Never yet was nation engaged in 
a holier cause than ours. An impious and causeless rebeUion, 
a rebellion which, to borrow the words of the Vice President of 
the Southern Confederacy, " is the height of madness, folly and 
wickedness," assails the best government which the world has 
ever known. Inscribed upon the banners which we have 
unfurled in its defence is the glorious legend : " Liberty and 
Union — now and forever — one and inseparable." In such a 
struggle we must succeed. Every attribute of the Almighty is 
pledged to the triumph of our arms. Each moon that waxes 
and wanes brings fresh tokens that he has not " forgotten to be 
gracious." Trusting in his strength, let us go forward 
conquering and to conquer. 

" O ! countrymen, God's day is not yet done, 
He leaveth not his people utterly, 
Count it a covenant that he leads us on, 
Beneath the cloud and throush the crimson sea.** 



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